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Law enforcement officials seized a boat carrying 24 passengers early Thursday morning near Crystal Cove State Park. Officers from Orange County Sheriff's and Newport Beach Police departments, and the California Department of Parks and Recreation, apprehended 20 men and four women about 4:30 a.m. after their 25-foot boat came ashore, said U.S. Customs and Border Protection agent Jerry Conlin. Authorities didn't find any narcotics on board and took the passengers to a nearby border patrol station for processing, Conlin said.

Ahoy, and summer officially begins next Friday! Does anyone find it surprising that a sailboat carrying 80 to 90 bales of marijuana was beached in Newport Harbor after a brief chase by the Coast Guard? This occurred at 1 a.m. on June 3 after the drug smugglers entered the harbor and refused to allow the Coast Guard personnel to board the sailboat. Finally, the boat was run aground on Balboa Island, and two people leapt from the vessel only to disappear in the night. This is not surprise to me and nor is it a surprise to law enforcement.

A sailboat carrying 80 to 90 bales of marijuana ran aground in Newport Beach Monday after the U.S. Coast Guard attempted to stop and board it, authorities said. During a routine patrol, a Coast Guard crew saw a sailboat entering Newport Harbor near Balboa Island and decided to board it for an equipment check, authorities said. As Coast Guard officials approached at 1 a.m., the sailboat veered right and came ashore at Ruby Avenue and South Bayfront. Two people, described only as white males, jumped from the boat and ran away.

This week, I sat down with Deputy Sean Scoles of the Newport Beach Harbor Patrol with the intent of introducing myself and learning more about moorings in our harbor. The first thing I learned was that Sean is very approachable, and he quickly made me feel comfortable talking to him. From the start of our conversation, I felt like I was talking to someone I had known for years and would call my friend. Sean has been assigned to the harbor department for the last eight years and worked closely with his predecessor, Deputy Carlos Contreras, as the mooring deputy and boat accident investigator.

This year's Christmas party hop will be "Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree" and the theme for the 105th Annual Newport Beach Christmas Boat Parade. The event committee recently held a public contest for theme suggestions and received 160 submissions. Two local residents, Judy Candelaria and Michelle Stranak, both sent in an identical idea and "Rocking Around the Christmas Tree" was selected. Previous themes have included "Feelin' Christmas-Sea in Newport Beach!" in 2011, "A Holiday Beach Celebration" in 2003 and last year's theme of "Surf, Sand and Santa!"

Ahoy, and welcome to Memorial Day weekend! Memorial Day weekend signals the official start of the boating season across the nation, and literally millions of people will be on the water enjoying boating-related activities. Thousands of boaters will be cruising the harbors in Southern California, and many will venture into the Pacific Ocean. However, be aware of the weather and sea conditions as King Neptune and Mother Nature are mixing it up a little this weekend. We will have a mixed set with the swells about two feet from the west-northwest and also from the south-southwest.

The Newport Beach Chamber of Commerce's Commodores Club is asking for the public's help finding a theme for this year's annual Newport Beach Christmas Boat Parade. Decked-out boats will travel the 14.7-mile route around Newport Harbor nightly from Dec. 14 to 22 in the 105th parade. Anyone with a theme idea can submit it to entries@christmasboatparade.com or deliver it to the chamber's headquarters at 1470 Jamboree Road by noon May 22. Whoever submits the winning theme will win a free VIP trip for two on Santa's boat on one evening of the parade.

Moving on from a tragedy that claimed the lives of four sailors a year ago, more than 200 boats set sail in the 66th Newport to Ensenada Yacht Race Friday. But when the final starting bell rang, most of the spectators and competitors had their eyes on just three crafts. Event organizers and fellow competitors agree the top contenders of the world's largest international yacht race are the crews aboard Medicine Man, Taxi Dancer and Bad Pak, which finished first in last year's race.

In 65 years there had been just one boat that finished the Newport-to-Ensenada Yacht Race before sundown. Now, make that two. Loe Real, a Jenn 60 trimaran, completed the 126 nautical miles from Newport Beach to Ensenada in 7 hours, 3 minutes, 51 seconds Friday, nearly breaking the record set by Stars & Stripes in 1998. Stars & Stripes finished in 6:46:30, 17 minutes, 21 seconds faster than Loe Real. The Newport Ocean Sailing Assn. sent out a special report shortly after Loe Real arrived to Ensenada.

A Newport Beach lifeguard swam through 6-foot waves and fought against 16-knot winds to cut two anchor lines that were keeping a 24-foot Bayliner in dangerous waters, rescue workers said Monday. About 2:41 p.m. Sunday Newport Beach Fire Department Lifeguard Capt. Arn Van Dyke responded to a report of a boat dragging anchor about 20 feet off shore at L Street near the Balboa Peninsula, officials with the Newport Beach Fire Department said. The four or five passengers aboard appeared not to notice the surf had increased or that the boat slipped anchor in the high winds, authorities said.